


A Day on the Little Planet

by SinFrog



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: Cream has slight PTSD for a variety of reasons only some of them being related to the little planet, Deep Lore? Definately, Gen, I hope you can enjoy!, I wrote this on a holiday, Literally she's like 8, One night I wanted to write fluff and cuddles, Rouge is a child, Shadow is a good friend, So that explains the kinda chunks of story, Sonic Swap AU, Sonic swears, Tails doesn't care, The House of Needlemouse, Then I wanted to write more fluff, Then the next day I wanted to write fights, There's not a lot of content out in the open for this AU but I wanna publish this, Wait I forgot literally the most important tags uh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 07:30:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15836619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SinFrog/pseuds/SinFrog
Summary: -Sonic Swap AU-After the fall of the Shadow Overmind, Shadow, Rouge, Tikal and Cream visit the Little Planet.Part of The House of Needlemouse AU Multiverse, swaps are as follows:Sonic <-> ShadowTails <-> RougeKnuckles <-> TikalAmy <-> CreamAlso mentioned: Emerl <-> GammaOmega is an exception, built a Gizoid with data from Knuckles. Shadow Android took the role of Metal during the events of what would've been Sonic CD and Heroes, though he used Maria (who is alive and well in this universe) as his vessel.





	A Day on the Little Planet

Shadow had almost forgotten how nice an acoustic guitar could sound, his old one had been so out of tune for so long, he’d hardly had a chance to practice. Tonight, however, was that chance he’d been waiting for – Cream had bought her own on this trip, and Shadow wasted no time in ‘borrowing’ it.  
Strum, strum.

Rouge was already sound asleep, curled up by Shadow’s side, a white ball of fluff that just about blended in with his chest-fur. Every so often Shadow would catch a slight snore above the guitar, and his smile would persist a little longer. The fireflies danced through the air, Tikal’s bright, awestruck eyes following the steps with excited little noises as she watched them for the first time. She was on Shadow’s other side, and on _her_ other side sat Cream, watching for certainly not the first time, nowhere near the last, and with no less enjoyment for the Firefly Field Zone. Her excitement was much more subdued; she had flopped against Tikal and was listening to the guitar’s tones as her eyes fluttered, grateful for the presence of her friends.

Shadow’s own eyes were too of note, just as they had for many years, they glowed green in the dark, lidded as his energy wound down after a day of exploring the Little Planet. Things had been stressful as of late, the recent incident with Maria and the Shadow Android had shaken all those involved, none more than Maria herself. If Shadow had known where she was, he’d have snatched her up and taken her here in a heartbeat – the Little Planet just isn’t something you can miss.

A small sigh left Shadow’s mouth, it’ll be around for a few days, and today’s only the first, who knows what kind of people will show up? Not many can actually _reach_ the surface of the planet, so it’d most likely only be people Shadow knew, which was comforting in a way.

Strum, strum.

Tikal audibly gasped, shaking Cream lightly, alerting her to the fact that a firefly had landed on her nose. Shadow chuckled, must be sad to live on an island too high up for fireflies.

Shadow’s smile faded a bit.

There were a lot of things that could be called ‘sad’ in relation to Tikal’s life.

He leant against her slightly, strumming a little song he recalled.

_Here I am._

_Made it to the end of you._

The firefly took it’s leave, Tikal waving it goodbye. Cream was just about ready to pass out – smiling widely at absolutely nothing with a glazed look. Shadow carefully stood up, making sure not to let Rouge fall and wake up; sleeping up against a tree was all well and good, but this guitar needed to go away. He walked the what, 3 steps? 3 steps it took to get to their little tent, if it were anyone else, Shadow would insist they sleep in here – He’d been homeless long enough to know not to waste a good shelter, but these friends in particular had stayed many a night with him under the stars, so he didn’t mind nearly as much. Shadow carefully set the guitar down with Cream’s belongings, minding the strings as he propped it up. He turned to leave, but before he could settle back down, his ear flicked.

Someone was there.

Narrowing his eyes, Shadow followed the sound, moving through the field quietly and low to the ground. Not many can reach the surface of the Little Planet, so the chances are that this is someone he knows coming for a sneak attack (lethal or otherwise) or a machine sent on behalf of Gerald.

Or some horrible third thing, an open mind is important, after all.

Stalking through the dark, Shadow came to a complete stop, waiting for another sound to give away the position of his target, 2 seconds without sound, 3 seconds, 4 seconds…

Tap tap.

Shadow just barely held in a scream, jumping and whipping 180o to come face to face with… Who, exactly?

They were Mobian, that’s for sure, tall, long quills that reached their lower back, a blood red cape that hung down to their ankles, thick gold cuffs on their wrists and high boots the same colour as their fur.

“I mean you no harm, child. Do not be afraid.”

…

“Put it down, Shadow.”

Shadow did not ‘put it down’, he had his green Chaos Emerald pressed firmly against the man’s chest, staring him dead in the eyes.

“How do you know my name?”

“Would you believe I’m a long-time fan?

“Absolutely not.”

The stranger sighed, Shadow noting the large scar running up his face now the Emerald’s light illuminated it. This person was clearly no stranger to battle, that scar looked like it came from a Chaos Spear not unlike his own technique.

“I’m nobody to worry about, besides, your name isn’t exactly a secret nowadays, is it? I merely came to enjoy the fireflies.”

Speaking of fireflies, they surrounded the pair as they spoke, the only other lights coming from Shadow’s Emerald and softly glowing eyes. Those eyes remained fixed on the stranger’s non-scarred eye, sharp resolve meeting vague tiredness.

After what felt like a year-long staring contest, Shadow relaxed his arm slightly.

“Since you happen to know my name, could I have yours? Not just anyone can make it up here.” Shadow looked the caped man up and down again.

“You may call me Terios. Keeping that a secret from you would only rile you up, so I have no problems telling.”

“Really, though… I just want to enjoy this night by myself, as I’m sure you wish to enjoy your time with your friends. I apologize for disturbing you.” Terios’ face gave away nothing, his eyes slightly lidded, his body language somehow relaxed and tensed at the same time, it was impossible to read him; though it could be said that an aura of pressure and mystery emanated from Terios, an otherworldly presence. It felt as if Shadow were talking to a ghost or an alien, perhaps even both. Shadow relaxed his arm all the way, lowering his Emerald.

“Very well, I apologize for making you feel threatened.” This comment elicited a chuckle from Terios.

“Fear not, child.” He began to walk past, clapping Shadow on the shoulder. In that moment Shadow felt that otherworldly presence in its fullest, eyes widening as Terios’ face passed by his ear.

“You couldn’t scare an old man like me if you tried.” He whispered, leaving Shadow almost frozen in place as he walked away; Shadow was left reeling.

“What… What _are_ you...?” He just about managed to ask, shivering slightly.

Terios’ footsteps came to a stop, that’s all Shadow could tell while frozen.

“Like I said, nobody to worry about. I’m just an old man here to relax.”

“Perhaps we’ll cross paths again, hm? Though if you’re lucky, we won’t have to.”

“Sleep well, Shadow.” His footsteps started again, Shadow slowly composing himself. Going back to his friends carried a slightly different atmosphere, Shadow almost didn’t want to settle back down. Tikal and Cream were both sound asleep now.

Sigh.

It was hard to be worried around them.

Shadow carefully got back into his spot, Rouge quickly magnetizing to him, even sleep couldn’t stop her; all that was left was to rest his head on Tikal’s shoulder and let the morning take it’s time to arrive.

Shadow’s softly glowing eyes fluttered, then closed completely.

An acoustic guitar, like all other instruments, had the potential to sound anywhere between heart-movingly beautiful and awful enough to make your ears bleed.

Rouge loudly slapping all the strings at once in an attempt to wake you up fell somewhere towards the lower end of the spectrum.

“WAKE UP CUDDLESLUTS WE’RE LOSIN’ DAYLIGHT!” She screeched, slamming her claws onto the strings and marching around Shadow, Tikal and Cream. Shadow was used to wake-up calls, and Tikal had apparently already been awake for a while, but Cream, the poor girl, could hardly get to her feet in a mix of disorientation and pain in her sensitive ears; Tikal had to help her up while Shadow scolded Rouge, reminding her of their friend’s acute hearing. Rouge just gave a big dopey smile with one hand behind her head, she was only a child, after all. Shadow rolled his eyes. Wonder if anyone else would turn up today? Only time would tell.

“Where are we going today?” Tikal asked, carrying Cream effortlessly with one arm as she made her way over to the tent.

“Mighty Mechanism is closest, I believe. Doing things in the order that I did them back when I was here with Rouge… That seems like a logical path.”

“Buh!” Buh’d Rouge, “I wanna go to that place with all the light roads, where you fought Shadow Android!” Shadow twitched at Rouge’s remark, Shadow Android’s mention poked at some fresh wounds, but it’s true, the Zone in question was beautiful.

“We’ll see. If you behave yourself, we’ll try make it there by sunset.” Shadow ruffled the fur on Rouge’s head, causing her to close her eyes and stick out her tongue. Seems she was ok with this answer.

Packing up the gear didn’t take long, and soon they’d started to make their way towards the end of the Firefly Field and the entrance to the Mighty Mechanism, though Shadow, Rouge, Tikal and Cream were not the only ones present on the Little Planet, from a distant hill, Terios watched the group leave, smiling. This reality was new, and its scenery was certainly something to behold, but the real reason he’d come was soon to make itself known. He closed his eyes, focusing on the energy sources present on this planet. Shadow’s large well of Chaos Energy, Rouge and Cream’s latent potential, Tikal’s connection to the Master Emerald…

Stones containing the essence of time itself, a factory powered by momentum and friction…

There. Surely, he wasn’t alone, but his power was the only one potent enough to be sensed from so far away, the raging hurricane given flesh and bone…

“Sonic the Hedgehog!”

Tails blinked, staring at his companion.

 

“Why’d you just say your name out loud?” He asked, a mistake really. Tails had mostly learned to stop questioning Sonic’s stranger antics, but this one seemed harmless enough.

“It’s the name he’s gonna remember! During that whole Android business, me and Shadow barely got a chance to duke it out, no fair at all!” Sonic tapped his foot rapidly against the floor as he ranted before starting to pace back and forth.

“We had those dumb Hooligans after my head, tch! As if they could even cut it off! My skin’s durable enough to tank bullets, what axe is gonna cut me, even if I was knocked out or dead!?”

“So stupid. Really the worst.” Tails rolled his eyes, Sonic had a very particular set of priorities, as well as a habit of taking things literally. He didn’t really mind, though. It’s Sonic after all.

“And don’t even get me _started_ on that creepy little brat! Seriously, what was her deal? ‘My prince of darkness’, what does that even mean!?” Sonic threw his arms up in the air, true, Amy was a… Strange child. Her infatuation with Sonic seemed mostly harmless though; she’s only what, 7 or 8? She’d get over it in time.

Hopefully.

Sonic finally came to a full stop, sitting on the ground with his arms crossed and pouting, not unlike a child. Omega took this opportunity to pipe up:

“WHEN ARE WE GOING TO DO THINGS. I GROW TIRED OF LISTENING TO THE ‘DARK PRINCE’ RANT ABOUT HIS RAGING HATEBONER BEING BLOCKED.” Omega’s monotone speech synthesiser echoed throughout the small cave the trio were huddled in, leaving a second of silence.

Tails sighed, he knew what was coming next.

“You… YOU WANNA SAY THAT AGAIN!?” Sonic was all fired up, back on his feet and getting right in the Gizoid’s face.

“I don’t care what it is, racing! Fighting! Rock-paper-scissors! I’ll crush at you at ANYTHING, oilbreath!”

“I DON’T RUN ON OI- “

“YOU’LL RUN ON THE HIGHWAY TO HELL IN T-MINUS FUCK YOU IF YOU DON’T SHUT YOUR WHOLE MOUTH!”

Another echo, another spell of silence. Sonic’s competitive spirit truly had no equal. Omega would smirk, if he had a mouth. Let it never be said that Sonic carefully planned his insults when riled up.

“TAILS, OBSERVE, I HAVE SUCCEEDED IN MAKING THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM ‘SALTY’.” Sonic lunged at Omega, attempting to throttle the robot without a windpipe, it wasn’t very effective.

Tails put his head in his hands as the two wrestled, how did he end up caring for these idiots? He looked out towards the mouth of the cave, watching the ocean tide. In truth, they’d only hid in here because Sonic was scared of the seawater but would never admit it. The Radical Rip-Tide Zone (ugh, what kind of name was that?) probably wasn’t their smartest landing point; it featured such lovely attractions as large bodies of water and vicious currents, not really the kind of place you want a hydrophobe and a heavy robot with no aquatic mobility options. Omega may be a Gizoid with Mobian proportions, but he’s incredibly dense to allow him to take massive hits. As soon as the tide goes down, they’d get going, but until then…

Tails looked over at the squabbling children, Sonic was clinging to Omega’s neck and biting his head accessory made to resemble the dreadlocks of an Echidna.

Sigh. It’d be a while.

* * *

 

On another part of the Little Planet, Shadow and his group were exploring the Mighty Mechanism, Tikal being wowed by the massive, powerful displays put on by the metal wonderland. Each truck-sized piston moved with purpose, every vent of steam calculated, all the moving parts working harmoniously to keep the Zone running, it was all very impressive; especially to a girl who’d grown up on Angel Island.

Rouge on the other hand was not satisfied with being quietly starstruck, she felt the need to get herself into all kinds of potential dangers by running around and climbing inside of places she had absolutely no business being in, calling for a fair few emergency Chaos Controls. Eventually she tired herself out, sitting on Cream’s shoulders as they continued their walk through the massive expanse of machines. Through all of this, Cream had been mostly silent; the Little Planet was a very important place to her, it comes with a very large and _very mixed_ bag of emotions. The beauty, the scale, the wonders of the place made her feel like an adventurer exploring where nobody else has. She met Shadow here, a person who would change the course of her life forever and be her dearest friend in all the world! All of that, and yet…

She’d been kidnapped here, dragged across the whole planet against her will and strung up as a prize to be won in the Zone made of light. The Shadow Android was coldly kind to her, Gerald hardly noticed her at all! The only one who made her feel anything close to safe during that awful time was Maria, and even then, Cream had trouble letting her guard down around her. This trip should help make more positive memories regarding this place, tipping the scale towards a brighter recollection. Cream smiled, Rouge gently playing with her ears as she daydreamed atop her shoulders. They’d taken a pretty straightforward route through the Zone so far, so it wouldn’t be much longer before they found themselves at Radical Rip-Tide. Maybe they’d go swimming! That’d be nice.

“Shadow, what’s the matter?” Asked Tikal, noticing that Shadow had stopped walking. He was frozen in place, staring right ahead at the gate leading into the Radical Rip-Tide Zone, eyes locked on the figure standing just outside the gate. Tikal, Cream and Rouge all looked too, it seemed to be… Another hedgehog? Shadow knew exactly who that hedgehog happened to be, Terios! How’d he gotten ahead of them? He seemed to be just staring out towards the distant ocean, back to the group; Shadow swallowed his unease and began to walk again, slightly faster than usual.

“Shadow…?” Cream called out to her friend, but he didn’t respond. She looked to Tikal, who nodded, the two following him.

Shadow soon found himself standing right next to Terios, who didn’t pay him any mind, just staring out across the sand towards the ocean.

“Nice day today, isn’t it? I didn’t expect us to cross paths again so soon, fear not – no bad luck has befallen you.” He spoke calmly to Shadow without looking at him, the rest of his friends soon approaching.

“Shadow, who is this guy?” Asked Tikal, looking him up and down, she’d never seen him before!

“…He’s…” Shadow shook slightly in Terios’ otherworldly presence. He slightly turned his head to look at Shadow in his pause.

“…Nobody to worry about.” This earned a small smile from Terios.

“Let’s just keep moving.” Shadow walked past Terios, this Zone wasn’t gonna explore itself, y’know! Tikal and Cream looked at him nervously as they passed, Rouge instead looking with stars in her eyes.

“So cool…!” She squeed, a tall guy with a scar and a cape? Awesome!

“See ya later, cool guy who’s nobody to worry about!” She waved back at him as Cream caught up to Shadow, Terios nodded.

 _“Hopefully you won’t, child.”_   He thought, closing his eyes again.

The hurricane was getting closer, best find a good vantage point and be ready to keep up.

It’d been about an hour since the encounter with Terios, Rouge was zooming around and divebombing the waves curling towards the shore as Shadow and Cream sat calmly on towels they’d packed for the trip. Tikal was no stranger to the sea and she was happy to grab Rouge and throw her back up into the air every time she’d crash into the water, there was no chance she’d get hurt with Tikal around. Shadow adjusted the sunglasses Cream had given him and let himself relax a bit, slowly coming down from the shakiness bestowed upon him by Terios.

But then, of course, there was always something. Large footfalls sounded just behind Shadow and Cream but before they could turn around and investigate, Omega had already sat himself down behind them, causing part of the towel to sink into the sand with his weight.

“SALUTATIONS, MEATBAGS.” He greeted casually, as if he hadn’t just shown up out of nowhere and wasn’t possibly here to kill them. Cream wasted no time scooting over to him and placing her hands on either side of his face, looking into his eyes.

“It’s you again! I didn’t get a chance to meet you properly before, you look just like Emerl… Do you know him?” Omega scanned this creature, surely, to place her hands upon him and ask questions as if he couldn’t crush her like a grape, such bravery! This one is to be respected, somewhat.

“…’Emerl’ IS PRESENT IN MY MEMORY BANKS AS MY PREDECESSOR. I HAVE NO DATA ON HIS PERSONALITY, PURPOSE OR CURRENT WHEREABOUTS.” He recited, not lifting a finger to hurt Cream, much to Shadow’s surprise.

Despite the fact that she could consider herself lucky to not have a crushed skull, Cream deflated, backing away.

“I see…”

“YOUR OCCULAR LENSES ARE OBSCURED.” Omega pokes her sunglasses.

“MAY I EQUIP YOUR OBSTRUCTORY ATTACHMENTS?” Shadow smiled slightly in his bewilderment, this is the first time he’s gotten to see an actual conversation from Omega, what an interesting guy.

“U-um, yes? Here, I have some more in my bag…” She produces another pair of sunglasses, affixing them to Omega’s head. He sits in silence for a moment.

“DETECTING 20% INCREASE IN ‘Coolness’ STATISTIC. EXPORTING GRATITUDE.”

“PAT. PAT.” He says out loud, patting Cream on the top of the head as gently as he can, which is still kind of hard; her head gets forced downwards with each ‘export’. Shadow laughed, seemed he wasn’t half bad. Although…

“Are Sonic and Tails with you?” He asks, looking around.

“THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM LEFT OUR HIDING SPOT BEFORE I DID, BUT HE APPEARS TO HAVE GOTTEN LOST WITHOUT AN ADVANCED TRACKING SYSTEM. WHAT A TOOL. TAILS WILL SURELY HAVE LESS TROUBLE, BUT HE JUST DOESN’T CARE AS MUCH.”

“I see, thank you.” Shadow sweatdropped, Sonic could show up at any second… That could be a problem. Tikal waded out of the water with Rouge under one arm having noticed Omega’s presence, she frowned, this guy had given her a real challenge back during their scuffle not long ago, why was he here?

“HAVE NO FEAR, ANCIENT MEATBAG AND CHILD MEATBAG, I AM NOT HERE TO CRUSH, MAIM AND/OR DESTROY AT THIS CURRENT MOMENT. THOUGH SAND MAY GET INTO MY JOINTS AND CAUSE ME PAIN, I AM CONTENT TO MAKE USE OF THIS RESPECTED MEATBAG’S PROTECTIVE SURFACE AND WATCH THE COMING STORM.” Shadow stood up and dusted himself off as Omega spoke, taking a few steps away from the group to do some stretches.

“Coming… Storm?” Tikal questioned, letting go of Rouge and approaching the Gizoid.

“AFFERMATIVE. THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM IS PRESENT ON THIS PLANET AND HIS LUST FOR SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG KNOWS NO RIVAL.”

“Y-you mean lust for battle, right? Lust to fight him?” Tikal sweated a bit.

“I KNOW WHAT I SAID.”

“Right…”

“Hah! I knew he was gay!” Rouge exclaimed. Shadow finished up his stretches and squinted, scanning the horizon for- ah, there. Dust clouds.

“He’s gonna be here in about 3 seconds, Cream, give Tikal and Rouge some glasses, he’s kicking up an awful lot of sand.” Cream nodded and quickly did as she was told, why’d she bring so many pairs of sunglasses? Her mother always told her to be prepared, is all. Shadow took a few more steps to the side, away from the now-gathered crowd.

3.

2.

1.

A distant held scream grew in volume as he approached, Sonic tackling Shadow with all his built-up momentum and sending the two of them rolling down the beach in a combined spinball. As they came to a stop, Sonic was pinning Shadow to the ground by his shoulders, teeth bared in a massive grin as he straddled his opponent.

“HAH, GAY.” Rouge yelled, earning a quick slap upside the head from Cream.

“So, we finally meet again, faker!” Sonic addressed his bitter rival.

“So, you finally learned to follow directions, dumbass.” Shadow answered. With a flash of light, he teleported above Sonic and let gravity pull him down, twisting his body to drive an elbow into Sonic’s spine and reverse the situation, causing Sonic to get a mouthful of sand.

“So, you on vacation too?” Shadow asked casually. Sonic attempted to answer through the sand, but Shadow understood none of it. What a meaningful conversation! Sonic suddenly jerked upwards, sending a burst of wind towards the sky that carried Shadow with it, who calmly flipped his feet back towards the ground and landed behind Sonic, who turned to face him.

He then spat out a load of sand and coughed a bit, but that’s less cool.

“Nice cheap shot, Chaos Control-freak, but I’ve got some new moves to throw around too! How’d you like that, huh? My ‘Sonic Hurricane’!”

“6/10, needs more pizzazz and a sprinkle of flavour.” Shadow responded dryly, taking off his sunglasses and throwing them back towards Cream. Sonic threw a rock at his head.

“Ow.”

“You’ll learn to respect my moves sooner rather than later, inkstain! Let’s stop screwin’ around and get to the real deal!” Sand started to float around Sonic, a sign that he’s ready to go all out.

“…Alright then, but if you go for any of them...” Shadow pointed towards Cream, Tikal, Rouge and Omega.

“There’ll be no healing pod or magic set of rocks strong enough to bring you back.” Green lightning crackled around Shadow, he was ready too.

Sonic’s pupils shrunk as he smiled even wider.

“Threaten me with a good time, why don’t ya? Quit stalling. We’re doing this NOW!” His body practically exploded, gale-force winds coming off of him and whipping up massive loads of sand that flew in a spiral pattern up into the air.

Shadow smiled. His own body bursting with green light and sending lightning bolts arcing across the beach, magnetized towards Sonic’s wind. The two massive beacons stood still for all of a second before launching towards each other with enough force to cause twin sonic booms! To the untrained eye, they’d vanished completely, but the speedy eyes of their companions could see the impacts of their colliding blows spreading from the ground to the sky. The force of their connecting attacks almost blew the spectators away, but Tikal had managed to grab the light Rouge before she’d been launched into the sea. Omega was completely unfazed, gently placing an arm in front of Cream to shield her.

The coast being ravaged by supersonic blows would be a deterrent for most, but for Tails? It was Tuesday. He made his way over to the gaggle of spectators and sat down next to Omega without a word.

“…Hi?” Cream tried to start a conversation, offering the pair of sunglasses Shadow had thrown to her. Tails put them on with a mumbled ‘thanks’.

“Can any of you guys even see what’s going on?” He asked, turning to Omega, who’s head was rapidly moving at all kinds of unnatural angles to follow the movement of the fight.

“I can see their outlines clearly when they slow down at each hit, but aside from that I can only see the occasional blur…” Cream hadn’t had an awful lot of battle experience where both parties were moving faster than the speed of light, Tikal and Rouge, on the other hand…

“I can see them darting around, Shadow’s energy signature makes it easy to focus on him, but Sonic is trickier.”

“You guys are slow! I can see them both in full colour HD! This is _great!_ Get him Shadow!” Rouge cheers and hollers at the combatants, earning an eye roll from Tails. Rouge confused him in many ways, the biggest one being how on Mobius she’s able to keep up with people like Shadow on a daily basis.

Couldn’t deny how impressive it is, but her ego didn’t need to hear that.

Sonic and Shadow finally came to a stop, quite literally butting heads on the surface of the beach and stepping back, both breathing deeply without their auras flaring.

“What’s the matter, faker? Looks like you need some stamina training!” Sonic gloated between ragged breaths.

“You’re just as bad as me! Does the ‘Ultimate Lifeform’ need a rest?”

 _“This isn’t good, we used up a lot of energy with flashy power outputs and not even going anywhere with all that speed! He’s just as tired as me, though, so I’ve still got a chance…”_ Shadow’s mind was racing, eyes locked on Sonic. Tails shook his head.

“Shadow’s probably thinking that Sonic’s just as tired as he is, but he’s forgetting that Sonic’s extreme biology will just let him keep going until he’s past the point where others would die of exhaustion. So long as he wants to keep going, he will.”

Omega nodded. Rouge pouted and smacked Tails.

“Shut it! Sonic might have a crazy body, but Shadow’s way smarter than he is! He’ll do something, just watch!”

Sonic and Shadow could barely hear the commentary over the pounding in their ears, this stand-off was more than just for show, they were resting. Building up their power for an even bigger burst.

“You’re in for it now…!” Sonic growled, starting to run in place. Shadow gripped his Chaos Emerald tightly, ready to dodge the oncoming attack, but Cream noticed where Sonic’s eyes were aimed.

“Shadow, watch out!” She cried, but Sonic’s Peel-Out had already been released, Shadow fully capable of using a Chaos Control in time, but since he was only focusing on gathering his energy, he’d neglected to consider the chance that Sonic was going for his Emerald! Sonic’s attack wasn’t even aimed at him, he slipped past and took the gem right from Shadow’s hand; skidding to a halt the other side of him and throwing it up and down.

“Sonic got a Chaos Emerald!” He yelled triumphantly, throwing out a thumbs up.

He then flipped it upside-down.

“Game over **.** ” He growled, grinning madly; the Emerald sparking as he began to drain its energy.

Shadow bared his teeth, sneaky little bastard! His skates flared hot enough to leave small glass spikes from his take-off point after he launched himself towards Sonic with a rocket powered jump! He opened with a kick aimed at Sonic’s head, using the flames from his skates to send his foot in sideways while Sonic held the Emerald behind his body. Sonic ducked under the first kick, but Shadow had already planned ahead, firing the booster on his other skate just as it touched the ground to do a complete backflip, landing on Sonic’s head and springing off of it, barely too slow to snatch the Emerald before Sonic can move his hand away.

Furiously racking his brain, Shadow kept up the assault so as to not let Sonic rest, dashing forward and throwing a barrage of punches at Sonic; who has only one hand to defend with. He just about manages up until Shadow throws out a sudden sweeping kick that takes his legs out from underneath him, letting Shadow snatch the Emerald out of the air as he

falls and teleport a few feet backwards, copying Sonic’s idea of draining it for more energy.

“What was that about a ‘Game Over’? How about we go again?”

Sonic hissed from his spot on the floor, scrambling up to his feet and getting back into fighting stance. Rouge was practically screaming in excitement while Tikal and Cream just smiled thankfully. Omega let out a dry, monotone laugh at his comrade’s failure. Tails was the only one not paying full attention to the fight, he was instead looking into the distance at what seemed to be some kind of craft landed on a coastal cliff not too far away. That wasn’t any kind of ship Tails had seen before, from here it almost looked like a spacecraft! Who else was here…?

* * *

 

Terios smiled as he watched the screen that had been set up on the cliff, the drone that had been packed with the ship was giving him a much better angle to view the fight from. Nothing too fancy was going on at that moment, just some punches and kicks; what Terios was really interested in was the potential this lot seemed to have.

“These guys are downright vicious, I’m eager to see the data Lance’s squad brings back from down the other end of the timeline to see what exactly made them like this.” A new voice spoke, belonging to a feline Mobian wearing a red dress and ribbon in her hair, carrying what appeared to be a slim magical rod with a jewel on the end.

“I would’ve been there myself, but _someone_ just _had_ to see them fight, hm?” She bopped Terios with her rod, folding her arms.

“Forgive me Tiara, but admit it, you’re excited too, aren’t you? Infinite has once again brought about the creation of stronger fighters to oppose him; these reincarnations could be the ones to help us bring him down…” Terios mused aloud. Tiara giving a considering hum.

“We can only hope. Has Percival returned yet?”

“Not yet, but I-“ Terios is cut off by a burst of flames a few feet away, another cat Mobian wearing armour and toting a sword stepping out of the inferno.

“Never mind then. Percival, how did it go?”

“I-I did everything as you asked, Sir Terios! The data on the new Zones has been gathered and sent back to the ship’s computer, ready for upload into the Archives back home.” She seemed a bit tense, saluting just a little too stiffly and stuttering a bit as she spoke. Tiara caught this and walked over to her.

“Percival, calm down, Terios and I are very proud of you!” She gave her a hug, not seeming to mind the sharpness of Percival’s armour.

“Now, can you take the ship back to the Citadel and hand off the data? We’ll be just fine here on our own.” Tiara let go and stepped back, smiling at her subordinate.

Speaking of, Percival was about ready to _explode_.

“Y-Yes! Of course, Princess! Right away!” She ran over to the ship and closed the door, activating the automatic launch process from inside. As the ship prepared to take off, Tiara smiled.

“She’s a new recruit, bless her heart. I’m sure she’ll go far, right?” Tiara turned to Terios, who nodded in response.

“Why do you think she joined?” He asked idly.

“Well… She was a knight back in her universe, right? I suppose being a Patroller isn’t that unlike being a knight. Serving royalty and all.” Tiara watched the ship rise up and blast out of the planet’s atmosphere.

“I would’ve bet that she did it because she’s head over heels for you.” Terios smirked. “Did you see the face she made when you hugged her? Gayer than Venice in June.” That one got a snort out of Tiara.

“No! Come on, be nice! It was nice! Don’t make it weird!” She shoved him, probably not the best thing to do on a cliff, but what does it matter to a pair of immortals?

“Your subjects adore you, dearest Princess, how could you deny that there aren’t at least a notable percentage who are, let’s say, extra patriotic?”

“I bet there’s plenty of guys who come chasing after _your_ musclebound ass! Just focus on your dumb fight, bully!” Tiara stuck her tongue out and Terios obliged her request, sitting back down with a chuckle to continue watching the fight. Seems as though something’s about to happen… Terios watched carefully as the fight set out to resume.

 

“Does no-one else care that a spaceship just blasted off?”

“Nobody cares about your spaceship Tails!” Rouge pulled Tails’ ears as she started intently at Sonic and Shadow.

“They’re gonna do something, look!”

True to her word, Sonic and Shadow had both backed away from each-other, going into another stare-down.

“I think we need a little change of scenery…”

“Come on, let’s blow this joint!” Sonic rushed full speed at Shadow again and the two vanished, but this time without the overflowing auras.Their impacts weren’t contained this time, they were moving down the beach and through the Zone!

“Let’s go, after them!” Rouge started to fly in the direction they were headed, Cream and Tikal following after her. After exchanging a look, Tails and Omega shrugged, Omega using powerful jumps and Tails using his flight to follow them.

* * *

 

Sonic and Shadow were far ahead of the group, crashing through a window into a facility coated head to toe in strange contraptions and physics-based experiments. Shadow recognized the Friction Factory, but Sonic was barely paying attention to anything aside from his fist connecting with Shadow’s face. He rolled backwards onto a conveyer belt, raising his arms to block Sonic’s follow up kick before even thinking to get off of the moving surface; the pair continued to trade blows while the conveyer belt slowly carted them throughout the facility, the walls opening to reveal a massive space with hundreds of interweaving conveyers of varying speeds. Sonic ducked under a punch from Shadow and countered with an uppercut, only for Shadow to grab his arm and throw him off of the conveyer belt, jumping off after him.

Not even a possibly lethal fall could stop them, the two of them rolling through the air and clashing like radical spinning tops in a plastic stadium. They landed on a much faster conveyer, Shadow landing face down while Sonic landed on his feet. He grabbed Shadow by the quills and began to run full-tilt in the opposite direction the conveyer was going, turning back to shout:

“Hey! You like your face all that much? If I run fast enough against this fast conveyer belt, d’you think I could use it like a sander? You look kinda _rough_ from that fall, so I think it’ll help!”

He laughed madly as he slowly lowered Shadow towards the surface of the conveyer, too dizzy from the fall to retaliate just yet; what does get him wake up however is the tip of his nose brushing against the makeshift sanding belt, causing his eyes to snap open and in the space of less than half a second activate Chaos Control. He re-appeared a few feet ahead of Sonic, only missing a small bit of skin from the tip of his nose.

Shadow exhaled. “Almost had me there.”

“Yeah, good call. Your punchable face is about 60% of your charm.” Sonic shrugged, smirking.

“Was that… A compliment? Didn’t expect you to be the type who flirts between punches, Sonic.” Shadow gave him a smile back, both parties were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Sonic barrelled towards Shadow, who smiled as he sidestepped the movement.

“You never cease to amaze me… Blue hedgehog.” Shadow recalls their duel on the Death Egg as he punches Sonic in the gut and sends him flying off the conveyer belt and back into the expanse below, diving after him. Once again, they clashed repeatedly mid-air, but this time they landed on cold hard ground, neither prone to attack. Shadow knew this route, quickly locating the path forward and blazing down it, leaving Sonic to chase him. The two couldn’t really throw punches while moving in this way, but they could exchange energy blasts in the forms of Chaos Spear and Sonic Wind. One side of the corridor was left peppered with fist-sized scorch marks while the other with cuts the length of a person’s arm; none of the attacks meeting their mark at the speeds each target was moving. Twin sonic booms went off again as Sonic and Shadow made their way towards the next Zone.

And what a Zone it was! Transverse Transcendence, the Zone made of light; roads that gleamed like stars and striking dark architecture that contrasted the shining paths and burning sunsets. Sonic and Shadow blitzed down the winding paths, splitting up and re-joining, running side by side. Soon they were back to fighting, trying to barge each-other off of the narrower roads or break the track in front of their opponent with ranged attacks.

“Having fun there, Sonic?” Shadow called out to his rival as they found themselves on a wide straight.

“You know it! Fightin’ someone as strong as I am… It’s what makes me feel alive!” A large loop was coming up ahead, Sonic and Shadow slammed into one another, shoulders pushing against each-other as they started to climb upwards.

“I’m glad, fighting you gives me a rush, too.” Shadow doesn’t have to raise his voice so much now. Sonic closed his eyes and smiled.

“Y’know…”

“Ever since that day on the Death Egg, I’ve found some things in life that make me happy.”

“But right now, I’m at my happiest…”

“…When I’m beatin’ your face in!” They’d reached the highest point of the loop, launching themselves down towards the ground and spiralling through the air. They didn’t clash with their spin attacks this time, instead grappling each-other and forming a combined spin just like before on the beach; green and blue energy forming a shining light as they crashed through the bottom of the loop, shattering the road and hitting the ground to make a massive explosion of wind and Chaos Energy.

…

When the dust settled, Sonic and Shadow were laying in the same crater, residue energy causing the occasional crackle to arc across the surface.

Sonic weakly punched Shadow on the arm while coughing, “Hey, what’s the matter? You all tired out? Guess that means I win, huh?” Shadow opened his eyes, rolling them before opening his mouth to retort, but Sonic cut him off before he could even begin.

“Nope! I can see it on your face, you can’t move a muscle more! I’m gonna have to call up your little friends so they can drag you back home, victory for Sonic!” He says between coughs, seems he’s got a throat full of dust.

The last thing Shadow saw before passing out was Sonic’s stupid grin in his face.

The last thing he felt was his _own_ stupid grin on _his_ face.

And the last thing he heard was the sound of an engine overhead, then it all went dark…

“Maybe… He died and went to Gay Heaven!”

“How’s that different from regular Heaven?”

“There’s just like, more roses.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Well your idea was lame! As if they’d call off a fight for ‘scheduled nap-time’!”

Shadow awoke to the sounds of Rouge and Cream debating something probably not very important, his eyes opened to the sight of a blinding sunset. Ouch.

Ok, trying that again – this time not looking directly at the sun.

He looked around to see Tikal looking down at him, smiling. Lifting his head, he realized that he’d been laying in her lap as she’d healed his wounds, Shadow managed a ‘thank you’ in his groggy state before she had to help him up. Sonic didn’t need much tending to, so he was already awake and standing on his own slightly away from the group, back facing them. Fireflies gathered in small groups around them, seemed they’d returned to where they’d started. Makes sense, the Firefly Field is the most peaceful of all the Zones on the Little Planet, and it was close by, especially by plane. That was another thing Shadow noticed, the Tornado sitting parked at the base of the hill they were on, being looked over by Tails and Omega. As Shadow and Tikal went to go and sit with Rough and Cream, Shadow couldn’t help but watch Sonic.

“Are you going to sit down at all?”

“Nah.”

“The sun’s about to set, don’t you want to watch?”

“Nope.”

Tikal pat Shadow on the arm for trying, but he wasn’t done yet.

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to make do without you, should’ve known you weren’t up to the _challenge_.” Shadow closes his eyes smugly, Rouge going ‘ooooooh’ like a crowd around playground drama.

Sonic gives him a LOOK. A look of DEATH. He then marches over and sits down next to Shadow, Rouge getting out of his way to get comfortable in Tikal’s lap instead.

“Wow, really? Look at you go, you’re doing it!” Shadow threw an arm around Sonic and spoke in a slightly mocking tone. Sonic grumbled.

“You think I’ll lose to you at even this! Just watch my new special move!” Sonic AGGRESSIVELY rested his head on Shadow’s shoulder, smirking triumphantly.

“See? I’ll take you on at anything and win.” Sonic waited for a reply to his positively _scathing_ remark, but found he received none. Shadow was content to with what was happening and watched the sunset in silence.

Sonic… Surprisingly didn’t move. This was probably a trick, right? If he got up, he could lose! No way, Sonic decided he was staying right where he was. In fact, he was gonna call for reinforcements!

“Tails! Omega! Get up here right now and we’ll make this a team effort! Are you gonna let these guys beat you at anything!?” he yelled down the hill, summoning a begrudged Tails and Omega.

“Are you serious? Sonic, you can’t ‘win’ cuddling.” Tails groaned, knowing full well that Sonic won’t take that for an answer, but trying anyway.

“Tch! Not with THAT attitude we won’t!” Sonic retorted, Shadow nodding smugly in agreement.

Tails had never really been the kind to receive affection, so as such he wasn’t proficient giving it. Omega surprisingly took to this pretty well, already comfortable with his chin resting on the top of Cream’s head and his arms around her.

“I AM SUCCEEDING IN THIS ‘Cuddling’ ACTIVITY. TAILS IS CURRENTLY LOSING. HA. HA. WHAT A LOSER.” That tore it, if a robot could do it, so could he!

“Oh yeah? I’ll beat you, Omega!” Tails also gravitated to Cream, resting his head in her lap.

“I-I guess I’m popular all of a sudden...” Cream was a tad overwhelmed with all this love, especially when it was fuelled by such flames of competition…! Shadow smiled as he shook his head.

“You’ve really rubbed off on them, huh?”

“They just learn from the best.” Sonic was full of pride, wearing it clearly on his face.

Finally, the group of seven was quiet. Surrounded by fireflies and watching the slowly setting sun. Tired from their fighting and racing, they could finally rest.  

“How long’s this hunk of rock gonna be here for, anyway?” Sonic asked, idly.

“About four more days.” Shadow responded, before taking a second to think.

“…Sonic, would you mind helping me with something tomorrow?”

“Hm?”

“Let’s go kidnap Maria.” Shadow spoke matter-of-factly.

…

“Yeah, sure.” Sonic replied.

 

_fin._


End file.
